UseBB is an open source forum system written in the PHP 4 scripting language and using the database management system MySQL to store dynamic content. It is being distributed under the GNU General Public License. It is meant as a light package for small to mid-sized websites. In opposition to most other packages, the feature set is limited to the essential, but more attention was given to the usability of the forum.

Some important features:

Support for many character sets

Topic subscriptions

RSS-feed

Search engine friendly URL's

Single forum mode

Modules for the administration panel

Templates based layout

XHTML and CSS valid

The current versions (1.0) do not support private messages, user groups or subforums.

The UseBB project was founded on October 22, 2003 by Dietrich Moerman. Ever since, it is registered on SourceForge.net. UseBB originates from the idea to build a single forum software solution called SBBS (Simple Bulletin Board System). It was decided to restart from scratch and to find a new name. The UseBB name was inspired by Usenet, however it also means The Usable Forum Software.

Because the code base of the 1.0 branch does not permit rapid development, a new version (2.0) written in PHP 5 using OO programming is being developed. This will allow the development of plugins, enabling the use of new technologies such as AJAX.